ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University softball team will host a regional for the 2026 NCAA Division III Softball Championship beginning on Thursday, May 14.

In addition to hosting, the Thunder will serve as the top seed of the regional. They enter the tournament as the second-best team in the country according to the NCAA National Power Index (NPI) which was used to select at-large berths to the tournament. Trine enters the tournament with a 32-4 record after going 14-2 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play. They secured the MIAA regular season championship for the seventh straight year and then earned the automatic berth in the tournament with their fifth straight MIAA Tournament Title.

The team's first opponent will be Earlham College who earned their spot by winning the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) tournament this past weekend. This is their first trip to the national tournament after restarting their program in 2024. They enter the week with a 26-17 record having going 12-6 in HCAC play. They share three common opponents with the Thunder including The University of Olivet, Saint Mary's (Ind.) College and Anderson University. The Quakers went 5-1 in those games while the Thunder were 6-0.

The other matchup on the first day will feature the University of Rochester (N.Y.) and Loras College. Rochester won both the regular season and tournament Liberty League championships on the way to their berth in the tournament. They boast a 35-8 overall record and went 13-1 during conference play. The Duhawks enter the NCAA championship as an at-large selection after falling in the final game of the American Rivers Conference tournament. The team was 29-14 overall and went 9-7 in ARC play.

More information on the regional will be released later this week. Stay tuned to trinethunder.com.